The final two lines provide a complete summary of the hymn: All that breathe, you Lord adore, Praise Him, Praise Him evermore! Each line of this hymn is embraced by every corner of Christendom. While Lyte captures the universal truths of our faith, from today’s perspective, he found within his own life and ministry much division and contradictions.

Early in his ministry he took a parish in Lower Brixham; a fishing village in the southwest corner of Great Britain. While there, he began the first Sunday school ever in the area. In addition to the children’s school he started a Sailor’s Sunday School. The enrollment usually ran into the hundreds. While religious education was ostensibly the purpose of this school, the school usually provided the only educational opportunity for the area residence, who were mostly illiterate. He would also organize an Annual Treat for area children which included a short worship service followed by food and field games.

Lyte was, in today’s parlance, a Conservative Evangelical Christian. He worked tirelessly for his ever growing congregation who were mostly illiterate fishermen and their families. He would often visit them in their homes and on their vessels, making sure that each ship had at least one Bible on board. Yet, this man who had a deep care for his own people opposed Catholic Emancipation. Catholic Emancipation was an effort to relieve the Catholics of Great Britain of the many regulations which were imposed upon them two centuries earlier with the ascension of Protestant rulers. Yet, he worked for the end of slavery and the emancipation of all slaves in Britain and was very active in the abolition movement in England.

As the Non-conformist, also known as the Dissenter churches, such as Plymouth Brethren gained influence in England, Lyte strongly promoted allegiance to the Church of England. At one time he lost a sizeable portion of his congregation (including most of his choir) because of his position.

However contradictory aspects of Henry Lyte’s life and work may appear to us living in the early 21st century, we should hold off making any judgements. We nede to understand the historical context of his life in same understanding we would hope historians of the 23rd century would use in looking at our own time. For most of human history prior to time of the American and French revolutions, the Church and State were deeply intertwined. Various factions would join forces and compete for power and resources as seen in the English monarchy switching between Catholic and Protestant affiliations. Unlike what we experience today, these political/religious power transitions were often very violent affairs with the common people bearing the brunt of the chaos and loss. For a person of political or religious influence to oppose other branches of the church was as much of an existential argument as anything else. Based upon historical precedent, if the Catholics were allowed to come to power, it could mean the loss of Protestant lives. The same could be said when the power structure shifted from Catholic to Protestant, Catholic lives were at risk.

This is how Lyte could advocate the freeing of African slaves and not the relief of Catholic oppression. One group (slaves) posed no historical threat, but the other (Catholics) had a history of violent oppression of Protestants. (And the Catholics would have a similar opinion of the Protestants.) The experiment of a politically powerless church had only just begun in the Americas. By the end of Lyte’s life the experiment would have been proven and the political power of Church was in rapid decline. But this was not the history he was born into. I often wonder what ideas we take for granted as truth today, will be seen 200 years from now as foolish if not outright evil.